Take a look around the parking lot of a university, and chances are you’ll spot more Honda Civics than Rolls-Royces.

While professors tend to be a brainy bunch, they don’t necessarily have bank accounts to match.

And they’re not the only eggheads strapped for cash. According to a new study, the highly intelligent among us aren’t necessarily wealthier.

While people with higher IQ scores tend to earn more, they don’t always save and invest their money wisely, says study author Jay Zagorsky, a research scientist at Ohio State University.

“Individuals with higher IQ should not think that they have any particular advantage,” he said.

People of below-average intelligence are just about as wealthy as those in similar circumstances but with higher IQ scores, the study found.

Even among the smartest people, those with IQ scores above 125, six per cent have maxed out their credit cards and 11 per cent sometimes miss bill payments.

The study is based on data from more than 7,000 Americans who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, funded by the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics and conducted through Ohio State University.